Home > Insights > Articles

Articles

Utilising Field Services to Maximise post-COVID Recovery

By
 
John McVicker

Partners are facing mammoth challenges as the nation emerges from strict COVID lockdowns, but you’re not alone.

Chances are, you’re behind on your hardware sales and services targets for the financial year. You’ve also been hit with supply chain issues which are likely to persist well into next year. Like many partners in the industry, this has led to a huge delay in revenue. You’ve been stuck in limbo, unable to install the technology necessary to support your services and now you can’t get to that revenue quickly enough. It’s incredibly frustrating, but there is still reason for optimism.

Although many businesses got off to a slow start this financial year, it’s not over yet. Now is the time to be innovative and look at new ways to ramp up services revenue. By working with the right field services partner, you can install equipment to support your services quicker and bring forward revenue.

At Best Technology Services, although we may not be able to solve all your problems, we have been helping businesses accelerate revenue for 20 years. Based on this experience, here are the three things to look for in your field services partner to maximise your post-COVID recovery.

1. A truly national capability

You need the capacity to deploy 100-200 sites per week. A field services partner with engineers positioned across the nation is essential. This will cut down on travel times, allowing you to complete installations at great speed. This is absolutely critical as it will provide a real opportunity to accelerate revenue.

For this volume of installation to be efficient, you will also need comprehensive project management and scheduling support. Working at scale is no small feat. The workforce must be nimble and efficient and allow you to deliver the maximum number of sites in parallel.

2. Fixed price services

Fixed price services will ensure your margin is predictable. With any project there is risk, but a true partner should be willing and able to share it with you by committing to a fixed price. This will help you avoid embarking on a large-scale activity that loses you margin or burns out your team. Once a project goes off the rails either operationally or financially, it can become all-consuming and quickly eat into profit.

3. Products and solutions that are designed for your success

A good partner should help you win more business. Don’t be afraid to gauge this by asking them what their win rate is. By examining how successful their existing partners are at winning business, you can gauge the level of support they provide throughout the sales phase. You should be looking for a success rate of 50% or greater.

In addition, your field services partner’s pricing should facilitate a 30 percentage point margin for you. They should genuinely want to help you grow your business and achieve your customer service objectives.

While there is no single solution you can switch on tomorrow to solve all your post-COVID issues, these three elements will help you get your revenue back on track. Remember, a quality partner should be deeply invested in positioning you for a strong comeback. This will allow you to build momentum well into the new financial year

New call-to-action